Authot's Notes: Here's chapter 25! Earlier that normal I think. Hope to have the 'volume 2' finale done soon, so hopefully it won't be too long a wait. Enjoy!
What It Takes
Chapter 25: Collapse
The Grimm charged in against the students at Cinereus' command. Professor Vert yelled into her microphone, sending out a shockwave, which slammed several Grimm into the trees behind them. Basil quickly speared an Ursa with his trident as Celestia guarded his flank, slicing at two Beowolves that tried to get at him. Aurelia spun her axe around and cleaved three other Beowolves in half, but was then nearly overtaken by two Death Stalkers about the same size as she was. Porphyrios wrapped one of his sickles around the neck of an Ursa and decapitated it with a pull of the trigger. Using his momentum, he slammed his sickle in the head of a Beowolf and, continuing his spin, he threw the Beowolf into a huge group Grimm. Two more Ursai flanked him, but he quickly raised both of his sickles and sliced the Grimm in half.
Professor Vert turned and shot a stream of fire dust at the three villains. They dodged out of the way, jumping into the fray themselves. The girl swung her kamas at Porphyrios, who blocked them with his sickles. Roano swung his sledgehammer at Aurelia and Celestia, who barely dodged out of the way as they tried to fend off the two Death stalkers closing in on them. Basil moved to help them, but was then blocked by Cinereus who delivered a swift kick at Basil's chest. He fell back as Grimm began to surround him. Cinereus moved his way into the circle of Grimm.
"Looks like we get to spend some quality time together, huh Basil?" Cinereus spoke, an eerie smile across his face.
Basil stood up, holding his trident tightly.
Cinereus smirked and drew his single bladed warglaives. He lunged at Basil, swinging his warglaives above his head. Basil guarded against the attack, but was met with nothing but smoke. Confused, Basil was then hit straight in the gut by his brother's weapon. A Beowolf from the circle charged at him and Basil swung at the Grimm. But once again, his weapon met no resistance, merely passing through another smoky image. He was then struck in the back by Cinereus again. Falling to the ground, Basil stood up and moved away as quick as he could. He was once again met with his brother's weapon heading towards his face. Unsure of whether Ciniereus was solid in this instance, Basil barely blocked the warglaive with his trident. Metal clashed against metal, as Cinereus gave Basil a dark smile.
"Better at fighting than you thought?" he asked smirking.
Basil glared angrily as he thrust Cinereus' weapon away. He split his trident into his two pistols and began to fire at Cinereus. But he was now firing at five people, all of whom looked like Cinereus. They began to charge at Basil as he continued to fire; his bullets made three of the images disappear. The two remaining images were now on top of him preparing to strike. Basil swung at the one closest to him, but he had guessed wrong. Basil felt the blade of his brother's weapon slice at his leg, causing him to stumble. He was then met with a swift kick to the side, to which Basil rolled back onto his feet, trident in hand.
"Good," Cinereus grinned, "This'll be fun."
The wall of Enero's house broke apart, as Enero was thrown through it. Enero stood quickly, wisps of white surrounding his hands, as his opponent charged forward, sword raised. Enero dodged out of the way, delivering a punch straight into his foe's gut. Staggering slightly, Bronze raised his hand, causing the earth below Enero to erupt, slamming into him and sending him backwards. Dazed, Enero stood up to see Bronze heading in the direction that Bennet had headed earlier.
"Oh no you don't," Enero snarled.
He slammed his hand onto the ground. His touch caused the ground to freeze in front of him, creating a path to intercept Bronze. He quickly propelled himself forward, sliding along the ice towards Bronze. Seeing his adversary, Bronze swung his weapon in Enero's direction. At the last second, Enero jumped over the sword, flipping over it and its wielder. On his way down, Enero grabbed Bronze's shoulders, and threw him over his head as Enero landed. Bronze landed in the road, as cars swerved to avoid his sudden appearance. Enero watched as Bronze used the earth below to launch himself out of the road and toward Enero. Weapon raised, Bronze came down on Enero with an overhead strike to the head. Enero grabbed the blade, stopping his opponent dead in his tracks. Enero smirked, as more white wisps appeared around his hands. The weapon held between them soon became icy as the cold waves from Enero consumed it. Enero then pulled at the weapon, causing it to shatter completely. Shocked, Bronze did not see the incoming roundhouse kick to his side, knocking him to the ground
Bronze got up slowly and faced Enero.
"Looks like we'll have to settle this the old fashioned way," Bronze stated, cracking his knuckles.
Enero chuckled.
"In that case, this will be over before it begins," Enero retorted.
Before he could go any further however, Enero felt an unbearable pain slash across his back. Before he could cry out, someone's whip wrapped around his neck, choking him.
"Poor huntsman," a sickly sweet voice spoke behind him, "You hurt my friend, now you have to die!"
At that last word, she pulled hard on her whip, causing Enero even more pain. He felt the whip cutting into his skin, despite his aura still being intact.
"Hazel stop," Bronze called out, "we don't have time for him."
Hazel's grip on the whip lessened, and Enero flopped on the ground, gasping for air. He turned over to get a good look at his assailant.
She had long, red-brown hair that was tucked behind her ears and fell past her shoulders. Wearing a crimson shirt, a short black skirt, steel toed boots and red wristbands, she looked like someone you didn't want to cross.
"You never let me have any fun," Hazel declared with a smirk, "I'm sure a few lashings won't delay me too long."
Bronze sighed, "Fine."
He raised his hand over the earth and summoned forth a stone sword similar to the one that had recently shattered.
"Make it quick."
He left her there with Enero as he began to head over to the factory.
Hazel smiled sadistically.
"You should stay down for this," She snickered, cracking her whips, "It will be painful."
Enero stood.
"You're gonna pay for slashing my back," Enero stated coldly, "how about one on yours to match?"
Hazel's eyes flashed in anger as she lashed out with both of her whips. Enero grabbed both of them, feeling the sting of their impact, and pulled her towards him. Surprised by this, Hazel was unprepared for the swift kick to the stomach. She fell to the ground, where Enero grabbed her head.
"Freeze."
In an instant, Enero had frozen her within a block of ice.
"You'll thaw," he stated plainly, "but by then I'll be long gone."
And with that, he took off after Bronze.
Sylvia, Re and Namra opened the door and found themselves at the top of a long metal staircase. They began to run down it, in pursuit of Cole and Nuri. At the bottom of the stairs they burst through another door and found themselves outside. They saw Cole and Nuri running down the alley toward one of the security doors along the city wall.
"Hold it!"
One of the guards yelled, but was quickly silenced as Cole teleported to him and smashed his fist into the guard's stomach. He turned and roundhouse kicked the other guard in the head, knocking him out as well. Cole grabbed the key card on one of the guards and opened the door, as Nuri ran through it. They watched as Cole also ran through the door way, the door shutting behind him.
Sylvia quickly nocked one of her electric arrows and fired it at the console. The arrow buried itself into the machine, the electric discharge causing the door to open, allowing the students to continue their pursuit.
They were now running through the woods outside of the city. The dense trees obscured their view, but they were still able to see Cole and Nuri through the trees. Cole glanced behind him and saw the students still pursuing him.
"Stall them," he ordered in a monotone voice.
The boy smiled evilly. He turned and shot fire from his hands, the tattoos around his arms lighting up. The fire consumed the growth around them, as trees fell in different directions. Quickly, Sylvia drew some blue dust from the canisters at her belt and cast it over the fires, putting most of them out. The fire had quickly-transformed the densely packed forest into a small clearing of burnt wood, stumps and a few trees that were still burning. The three students stopped as the boy stood before them with his black t-shit and tattered jeans.
"You guys go on," Namra commanded, "I'll handle him."
Sylvia looked at Namra, and then at Re who nodded to her, and they took off after Cole. The boy raised his hands as he attempted to stop them, but Namra threw one of her short swords at him, leaving him with no choice but to dodge out of the way, letting Sylva and Re push onward. Namra pulled her sword back with its chain as the boy smirked at her.
"Fine," he said still smirking, "I'm only interested in you anyway, it's been a while ay Namra?"
Namra relaxed her stance slightly, "It certainly has Nuri," she replied, "Shame you're still an arrogant jerk."
Nuri grimaced dramatically, as if she had shot him, "Such harsh words coming from you," he scolded, "and just when I thought we would have time to catch up. By the way, love the blindfold. Really suits you."
Namra tightened her stance as Nuri began to pace back and forth.
"Why are you doing this Nuri?" inquired Namra, "Why are you helping the enemy?"
"The enemy?" Nuri asked incredulous, "Funny hearing you say that after what you did to me. And Cole's definitely not the enemy, we only want equality, a fair chance for everyone, and we can't get there without taking control ourselves. You should know that by now."
Namra's grip tightened on her weapons, "What happened to you Nuri?" she asked, "We were best friends once."
Nuri stopped pacing and looked at her, "At one time maybe," he responded, "but that all changed when you betrayed me."
"I didn't betray you!" Namra shouted angrily, "You betrayed me when you started killing people!"
"And a real friend would have stood by me when dealing with the GUILT from doing that!" Nuri shouted back, a pained look on his face.
Silence fell as Namra stood there, trying to think of what she could say to console him, to bring him back to her.
Nuri smirked, and then started to chuckle, and then he laughed loudly, his laughter echoing throughout the forest. It wasn't a jovial laugh; it was a cold laugh, a harsh laugh, an eerie laugh.
"You actually believed me!" He cackled, "I have no regrets killing the people who got in our way! Never have. Never Will."
Namra's anger built inside of her. This was her former friend, the one who comforted her when the world got too scary.
"I can't believe you," Namra spat, "After all this time and you still don't see what's wrong with what we did?"
"No," Nuri stated, no longer laughing, "I can't believe you still think what we were doing was wrong. What's wrong with wanting to be free?"
"Killing those innocent people in order to be free?" Namra cried back, "How could you say that wasn't wrong?"
Nuri laughed again.
"You and I both know you were willing to do anything for freedom, even kill. I'm sure you'd still be willing to do so," he remarked, "But that wasn't the reason you left. No, you left because you couldn't stand looking at me anymore."
Namra stood silent again.
Nuri sighed.
"Well that doesn't matter anymore," he stated still smirking, "I have new friends now, powerful ones that will never forget what I've done for them."
His shirt began to smoke and smolder as his body began to glow.
"I'm over you," he continued, "I've been over you for a long time."
Holes began to form in his shirt as heat began to emanate from his entire body.
"And now…"
His shirt fell away, completely burned. A dragon tattoo glowed orange on his muscular chest along with the fire tattoos around his arms. Smoke formed from every part of his body as he held a fireball in his hand, his blue eyes glaring at Namra.
"I'm gonna burn you to a crisp!"
He launched the fireball at her. She blocked the attack with her blade as Nuri charged at her shooting more balls of fire. She blocked each one until Nuri was on top of her. He launched a fiery punch at her which she was barely able to dodge. Seeing the weakness, Nuri launched a quick jab at her stomach with his right fist. Making contact, Namra stumbled back a bit and was hit again with a flaming fist. She got up quickly and blocked the next punch with her blade. Surprised, Nuri was unprepared for Namra's kick to his ribs which sent him back a few feet. Letting her blade fall out of her hand, Namra loosely grabbed the chain, spun around and swung her weapon at Nuri. The chain slid through her hand allowing the blade to reach Nuri's location. Seeing the attack, Nuri swiftly somersaulted backwards dodging the blade. Continuing the swing, Namra brought the blade back to herself, took a step forward and threw her other blade at Nuri. The sword sailed through the air and slammed into Nuri, sending him backwards and to the ground. Grabbing the end of the chain, Namra pulled her weapon back and readied her stance waiting for Nuri's response.
Nuri lay on the ground and began to laugh again. He stood up and smirked at her.
"You've gotten better," he complimented, "Now let's finish what you started."
Professor Caerul blocked the blast of fire dust with his book, while Wai fired a grenade at Coralia. She dodged out of the way, the grenade exploding behind her, as she fired another fire blast at Wai, hitting him square in the chest. Wai stumbled backward as Professor Caerul charged at Coralia, textbook in hand. Coralia fired a barrage of elemental blasts at him, which he blocked and dodged with ease, until he was on top of her. Coralia swung her steel fans at the professor, but he ducked and jabbed at her with his book and fists. Eventually, Coralia saw an opportunity and blocked the professor's incoming fist with her fan. She then used his momentum to let him stumble passed her. She then fired an ice blast and trapped Professor Caerul's feet. Unable to move, the professor raised his book to block Coralia's incoming fist.
"No you don't!" Wai cried, and charged at Coralia.
Coralia turned and fired more fire dust at him. Wai dodged most of them, but some grazed his shoulders and legs. He swung one of his blades at Coralia, but she quickly trapped it in one of her fans, twisting Wai's arm in the process. Unbalanced, Wai was pushed over easily by Coralia, who now had her fan pointing right at Wai's chest.
"Nice try kid," Coralia mocked as she prepared her dust blast.
Professor Caerul raised his hand towards Coralia. Suddenly feeling dizzy, she fell backwards, accidentally firing her dust blast at Caerul's feet, freeing him from the ice. Coralia recovered quickly from her dizziness, and fired another blast at Wai, but he was already out of the way and fired a grenade at her. The grenade hit her right in the chest, sending her backwards. After she landed, Professor Caerul charged at her, shielding himself with his book, as Coralia launched dust blast after dust blast at him. He felt fire and electricity surround him as he continued to advance despite the onslaught, and eventually slammed into her. The impact caused her to stumble towards one of the windows. Caerul then threw his book at her, causing her to crash through the glass and out the window.
Professor Caerul picked up his book and turned to Wai, as they both tried to catch their breath.
"Go catch up with the others. I have a feeling they will need your help."
Wai nodded and ran in the direction the others had gone earlier.
Once Wai was gone, Caerul began looking around the place, trying to find blueprints for what they had been working on.
Here, He thought as he spotted some papers with some form of schematics on it.
As he studied the design, his heart sank. He couldn't believe what he was seeing
I have to report this immediately.
A sudden gust of wind rushed through the window. Professor Caerul turned and saw Corelia floating outside, her fans fully opened and at her side. She quickly entered through the window and slammed her fan into the professor. Caerul tumbled backwards from the blow, and stood up to see the bronze haired man who had tried to kill him, standing in the open doorway. Professor Caerul stood up, ready to fight both of these enemies.
"Too bad," Coralia grinned, "Looks like you won't be doing anything with that design."
"Let's finish this," the bronze haired man stated.
As he said that, a chill ran through the air and Enero punched Bronze right in the back. Bronze staggered forward and turned to face Enero, but was then kicked right in the gut. He fell over clutching his stomach. Coralia fired a blast of fire dust at Enero, who dodged out of the way. Bronze got back up and glared at Enero.
Enero smiled, "Ready to finish this Bennet?"
Professor Caerul grinned back, "Yes."
The two readied their stances as Bronze and Coralia charged at them.
Basil stabbed his trident forward, stabbing clean through another of Cinereus' illusions. He then ducked as Cinereus swung at him with his warglaive, very nearly missing him. Recovering from his dodge, Basil began firing his pistols at Cinereus, but his bullets merely passed through more illusions that Cinereus created. He ducked again as Cinereus aimed a kick at Basil's face. Cinereus then fired a shotgun blast from his warlglaive, which hit Basil right in the gut. Thankfully, his aura protected him from most of the blast, but the impact still left him breathless.
"How unfortunate," Cinereus taunted as Basil stood up, "you really are as pathetic as you look."
Basil clutched his side as he glared at his brother. Cinereus smirked.
"You might as well get a desk job like dad did, 'cause you're just as useless as he is."
A green aura flared around Basil as he charged at his brother. Cinereus sliced at him, but Basil dodged the blow effortlessly, tripping up Cinereus in the process. Surprised at the move, Cinereus hit the ground, but quickly stood back up.
"Our father was a great huntsman," Basil shouted, his eyes glowing as brightly as his aura, "Even while working for the Schnees, he is still twice the man that either of us will be."
"You still think that highly of him!?" Cinereus yelled incredulously.
Two forms of himself appeared on either side of him and all three charged at Basil.
Basil closed his eyes and stood his ground as two of the forms collided into him, disappearing into smoke. He opened his eyes and swiftly blocked the warglaive coming at his head with the prongs of his trident. He then pulled the trigger at the base of his trident, firing two bullets from it at Cinereus, causing him to be pushed backwards. Cinereus glared at his brother.
"He is dishonest and dishonorable."
"You know nothing of honor, apparently" Basil declared, his eyes boring into his brother's soul.
Basil's voice rang out across the clearing as Celestia and Aurelia dodged Roano's hammer once again. The Grimm closed in and Celestia brought a few down with her sub-machine gun, but more kept coming. Aurelia swung her battle axe in a wide arc around her, cleaving some of the Grimm in half while keeping the others at bay. Roano swung again, forcing the girls to dodge again, repeating the cycle. Porphyrios wasn't fairing much better. The girl in the tank top kept locking her curved blades with his, preventing him from cutting down the Grimm all around him. Luckily, Professor Vert's dust blasts from her glove was doing most of his job and more, but even she was starting to feel pressured from the sheer amount of Grimm in the area.
We need to turn the tide somehow; Porphyrios thought wildly as he disentangled himself from the girl again, otherwise we'll be overrun.
Celestia's hair turned blue as she raised her hand towards Roano. He staggered slightly, as if weighed down by an invisible force. Despite the sluggish movement, he was still able to raise his hammer and take a swing at Celestia. The impact from the hammer slammed Celestia into the ground.
"Celestia!" Aurelia yelled, as she tore through the wall of Grimm surrounding her, desperate to get to her friend.
Celestia stood up, battered from the attack but still ready to fight.
"You really should have stayed down," Roano growled as he lifted his hammer again.
This time, Aurelia intercepted the attack with her battle axe, clashing with the giant of a man.
"Celestia, keep the Grimm off me," she commanded, "I'll deal with this guy."
Cinereus started to send some of the Grimm to attack Basil now, as they continued their battle. However, with Basil's semblance still working, he was able to dodge and defeat each Grimm that was sent at him. Eventually their weapons clashed as they began fighting each other head on. Cinereus continued to send out illusions against Basil, but his instincts could see right through each one his brother threw at him. They clashed again and this time Basil got the upper hand. He quickly kicked Cinereus in the stomach and then slammed the hilt of his pistol into the back of his brother's head. Cinereus pushed himself into a kneeling position, lifting his head to see Basil's pistol pointed right at him.
"You seriously think our father is that great?" Cinereus demanded, "He hates the Faunus. You're friends with two Faunus. How could you look up to someone who hates your friends?"
"He doesn't hate the Faunus," Basil corrected, his green aura vanishing, "He hates the White Fang and their extreme measures."
"And by extension, the Faunus," Cinereus argued, his voice rising, "The White Fang just want the Faunus to be treated as equals."
"The White Fang kill people to get what they want," Basil responded, "Their actions will only cause fear, and they already have."
"They are just willing to do what is necessary!" Cinereus declared.
"Why are you saying this?" Basil asked, his eyes glistening, "Do you really think killing is necessary for equality?"
"Yes."
Basil's features hardened at this.
"Then you really are the enemy now," he acknowledged, "As much as I hate to admit it, it's my duty to stop you."
Cinereus laughed.
"Good luck with that."
At those words, three Beowolves jumped at Basil from the crowd, forcing him to dodge out of the way quickly, allowing Cinereus to get back on his feet. The three Grimm creatures pursued Basil, but he took them down easily. Stabbing the last one, Basil looked up to be met with Cinereus' warglaive. Flaring his semblance slightly, he dodged the blow, but he was met with five more Grimm from the circle and had to dodge out of the way of them too.
He's trying to exhaust my semblance, Basil realized.
He disengaged his semblance and fired at the oncoming Grimm. His bullets connected with three of them, but the other two slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Having no choice, his green aura returned as he blocked the teeth and claws of the Grimm, eventually separating himself from them enough to finish them off. But Cinereus was not about to give him a break as he aimed a kick at Basil's head, causing Basil to use his semblance again to dodge. While dodging, Basil used the hook at the bottom of his pistol to grab Cinereus' foot and flip him to the ground. On his back, Cinereus fired shotgun blasts up at Basil, who was hit square in the chest. Basil stayed on his feet, however, and readied himself for Cinereus' next onslaught.
Aurelia blocked the hammer with her battle axe again. Celestia was helping Professor Vert clear out the Grimm, which helped Aurelia focus on her opponent. Roano towered over her as he swung his hammer again, aiming for her torso. Aurelia blocked the blow again, but the impact reverberated throughout her entire body. Shaken from the blow, she was barely able to dodge the next attack, which caused the earth itself to shake. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aurelia swung her axe into his side. The strike caused him to stumble, but he recovered quickly and swung his hammer again. Using her axe, Aurelia swept Roano's hammer off to the side and swung at him again. The blow pushed Roano back, giving Aurelia ample space to fire her rocket at him. The rocket hit Roano square in the chest, exploding upon the impact. However, as the smoke cleared, Aurelia saw Roano standing there completely unfazed. Shocked by how resilient the Faunus was, Aurelia didn't have time to react to his next swing. The next thing Aurelia knew, she had been slammed into a tree and hit the ground, nearly blacking out from the pain alone. Dazed, Aurelia tried to stand but quickly fell back down, the pain in her side too much to bear.
Definitely broken ribs, Aurelia realized, inhaling sharply as she tried to move again.
Roano approached slowly and raised his hammer to finish the job. Professor Vert suddenly jumped in front of Aurelia, yelled into her microphone and unleashed a powerful shockwave against him. Roano staggered back from the sudden force. The air around Professor Vert rippled as she spoke.
"How about you face me instead?" her voice sounded layered and seemed to echo around the forest.
Suddenly Roano was fixed upon the professor.
"Very well," he stated, "You'll be first."
Roano charged at her, hammer ready to strike as Professor Vert helped close the distance. She dodged the hammer deftly and fired her blunderbuss at him. She took a couple more shots at him before he swung his hammer again. She continued to dodge out of the way while Aurelia watched her, attempting to stand up and get away from the danger. However, she still couldn't muster up the strength to stand. Luckily, Celestia had spotted her after clearing out some of the Grimm. She immediately made her way over to her friend, and knelt down to help her up.
"I got you," Celestia reassured her, although her face made it clear she was worried.
"Roano…" Aurelia managed to say, "Hammer… broken ribs…"
"Try not to speak," Celestia told her, "We need to get away from here before the Grimm get to us."
However, the Grimm were not interested in them anymore. They were now moving towards Professor Vert, while she fought off Roano. Confused why the Grimm had shifted their focus, Celestia and Aurelia moved to find Porphyrios.
Porphyrios glanced over in time to see Aurelia get slammed into a tree from Roano's hammer. But he could only get a glimpse as he was once again tangled with the girl's curved blades. He pushed her away again and fired at her with his pistols. He then turned and sliced at an Ursa with one of his sickles, causing the Grimm to howl in pain, until it was kicked back into the circle around them. The girl tried to charge him again, but Porphyrios was fed up. He ducked under the blades from the girl and slammed his elbow into her stomach. As he heard her gasp from the impact, he grabbed her arm with one hand and her back with the other and flipped her over his back and onto the ground. Gasping for breath, she stumbled away from him, using the Grimm as a wall to protect herself. However, Porphyrios didn't pursue her.
Looking around, he saw Celestia carrying Aurelia towards him and he rushed over to help.
"Are you okay?" Porphyrios asked.
"She'll be fine," Celestia answered for Aurelia, "We need to get out of here though."
"Working on it," Porphyrios responded as he looked around, "Where's Professor Vert?"
"She's fighting Roano over there."
Celestia pointed towards a huge crowd of Grimm, where they saw fire spewing in different directions.
"She's somehow attracting a lot of the Grimm, so we have time to think of a plan."
"And Basil?"
"He's still fighting his brother over there," Celestia replied.
Aurelia looked over towards where Basil was. Her eyes became white as she stared in that direction for a few seconds.
"He's nearing his last legs," Aurelia stated, her eyes returning to normal, "And Cinereus still has the remote."
"I see," Porphyrios said, contemplating their options, "I need to go back and deal with the girl, so here's what I need you to do."
Basil was beginning to struggle against the onslaught of both Cinereus and the Grimm. Every time he gained an upper hand, the Grimm closed in and put him on the defense. His clothes were tattered and his vision was slightly blurry. He breathed heavily as Cinereus charged at him again, but Basil saw three of him instead of one. Basil fired at the figures with his pistols, making two disappear while the third aimed to slice at his chest. Using his semblance, Basil changed his pistols back into a trident and blocked the slice in the nick of time, a green aura flashing around him. Basil then swung a kick at his brother's torso, only to see his leg pass through another illusion. Frustrated, Basil whirled around, to see Cinereus behind him. Before he knew it, Basil felt metal slice into his arm. He yelled in pain as Cinereus kicked him away. Basil fell to the ground, a huge gash in his shoulder now, his arm barely able to hold onto his weapon.
"It's over," Cinereus stated plainly, "You're surrounded by Grimm, your aura is gone, and your right arm is effectively useless. Give up."
Basil stood his ground, determined to not give Cinereus any sort of satisfaction.
"Why are you doing this?" Basil asked, "Why help them?"
"We're making this world a better place," Cinereus declared, "No more corruption, no more inequality, and no more crime."
"And to do that," Basil continued, "you're causing more crime and corruption. Cinereus this isn't the way to make things better, you're just hurting everybody."
"We're only hurting those who are corrupt," Cinereus retorted, "Those who deserve what's coming to them."
"That's not your job," Basil reasoned, "That's the job for the hunters and the authorities. Your group has figured out how to control Grimm, and yet you are going to use them to hurt people rather than help them. You're just as corrupt as the people you are trying to stop."
"Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good Basil," Cinereus protested, "That's why the White Fang do what they do, for equality. Although they fail to see the big picture."
"What are you talking about?!" Basil yelled, "It takes more than force for people to change their perspectives! The White Fang are just perpetuating the stereotypes that people have about Faunus!"
Basil clenched his fist.
"Why are you suddenly so obsessed with them?" Basil demanded, "They're a terrorist organization that wants to eradicate all of humanity. Why defend them so much?"
Cinereus frowned slightly, as if he pitied Basil.
"There's more to you and me than you know about Basil," Cinereus proclaimed, "If you knew-"
"Yea?!" Basil interrupted, "Please tell me! What the hell do you know that changed your perspective so drastically? Why are you suddenly so supportive of the White Fang!?"
"Because you and I are half Faunus!"
Basil looked at Cinereus, lost for words. There was a pause before Basil spoke.
"Cinereus that makes no sense," he stated, "Both of our parents are human, how could we be half Faunus?"
"Cole showed me news articles," Cinereus explained, "Our mother worked with the White Fang for a while, before she had us. She had fox ears in the pictures."
"Cole probably altered the photos to get you to join him," Basil retorted, "Mom would never work with the White Fang, even if she was a Faunus."
"I know what I saw Basil, "Cinereus spat, "Our mother worked for them!"
"Cinereus, have you seen our mother?" Basil inquired, "She doesn't have fox ears!"
"Well maybe humans punished her for being a Faunus," Cinereus reasoned, "It doesn't matter; I know our true heritage, and I will continue to fight for our equality."
He smirked slightly as he pulled out the black remote that controlled the Grimm.
"I will ask you once more," he stated plainly, "Join us, make this world a better place, a place where the Faunus and humans are equal."
Basil looked over and saw as Aurelia loaded her rocket launcher. Celestia stood beside her, defending her from the Grimm that tried to attack her and Porphyrios was fighting off the girl in the tank top in the distance.
"I used to be wary of the Faunus," Basil claimed, "but if there is one thing I've learned from my teammates, it's that the Faunus are trustworthy. And the world will see that eventually. Through time and experience they will see that humans and Faunus are equal and can work together. But the only thing that you, Cole, and the White Fang are doing is spreading fear. And trust me that will only do the opposite of what you want to achieve."
Basil smiled, despite his injuries.
"So in response to your invitation, I would rather die than perpetuate what the world thinks of the Faunus."
Cinereus shook his head.
"I wish you could see it my way," Cinereus lamented, "but you leave me no choice."
As he was about to hit the button on his remote, a rocket hurled itself right at the ground near Cinereus' feet. The explosion caused him to fly off his feet and drop the remote on the ground. The remote clattered towards Basil, who quickly picked it up and crushed it within his hand. The Grimm flinched in reaction and looked around, confused as to what they were doing.
"You fool!" Cinereua cried, "Now they'll kill all of us!"
Basil smiled sadly.
"If it ends your plans, then it's worth it."
As he spoke those words, the Grimm charged in.
Celestia saw what happened and jumped into action. Without thinking, she ran towards the giant hoard of Grimm, her only thoughts on saving Basil. She swore she heard Aurelia cry out, but she ignored her as she ran towards the chaos. The Grimm around Basil and his brother had closed in and all that could be seen was a flurry of claws and teeth.
Don't you die on me, She thought to herself, as she picked up the pace.
Once she was close to the group, she saw a glimpse of Basil's hand amongst the Grimm. Her hair quickly turned a brilliant shade of aqua and she raised her hand towards the crowd. She then leapt through the air and over the Grimm as Basil was lifted by invisible strings from the chaos. She caught him midair and landed on the other side of the now densely packed Grimm. Basil looked dead in her arms, eyes closed, badly beaten and scratched with a huge gash in his right shoulder. Celestia tried desperately to stir him.
"Basil!" Celestia exclaimed frantically, "Basil wake up!"
His eyes fluttered momentarily before he finally opened them slowly.
"Celestia?" His voice was far away, "How did you get here?"
"Just stay with me Basil, we're gonna get out of here."
Basil smiled, "That sounds good."
His eyes closed again and he relaxed into Celestia's arms.
"Basil?" Celestia called again, her voice shaking.
Porphyrios appeared beside Celestia, Aurelia leaning heavily on his shoulder. He moved over and checked Basil's pulse.
"He's alive," Porphyrios stated, "barely, we need to get out of here now."
They began to move away from the Grimm, who were currently focused on fighting Cinereus and the girl in the tank top.
"Where's Professor Vert?" asked Celestia.
"She's calling in an airship over in those trees," Porphyrios explained, gesturing to a general area in front of them, "Roano backed off her once the Grimm started attacking him as well. We just need to-"
An ear piercing trumpeting noise suddenly filled the clearing. The students turned to see a mammoth sized elephant Grimm enter the clearing through the trees, its eyes fixated on them.
"Move!" yelled Porphyrios, as the creature charged at them.
Thankfully, Aurelia and Celestia were able to dodge, but Porphyrios was knocked away in the opposite direction, slamming into a tree.
The Grimm turned to the girls, ready to charge again.
"Hey!" Porphyrios shouted, as he shot the Grimm with his pistols.
The bullets merely bounced off the Grimm's hide, but it certainly got its attention. The Grimm turned and swung at Porphyrios with its tusks, barely missing him as he ducked.
"Go!" Porphyrios called, "Get to the airship!"
"What about you?!" Aurelia called back, clutching her side, "We aren't leaving without you!"
Porphyrios dodged another blow and dug his sickle into the elephant's leg.
"I'll find another way," Porphyrios barked, "Just get yourselves out of here while I distract this thing!"
"No way!" Celestia argued, "We'll help-"
"There's no time to argue!"
Porphyrios barely dodged the next blow, the tusk brushing inches away from his body.
"If you help you'll only get us all killed! Leave now so at least some of you survive!"
"But-"
"That's an order Aurelia!"
Tears welled up in both of their eyes.
"Porph-"
"For Oum's sake!" Porphyrios bellowed, as his arm was scraped by the tusk, "Get out of here! I'm gonna die just from yelling at you!"
Porphyrios blocked the next attack, his arms trembling as he tried to withstand the blow. The girls looked at each other and nodded solemnly.
"You better be at the airship in five minutes!" Aurelia demanded, her eyes watering, "Otherwise I'll kill you myself!"
The two then ran off toward where the airship was going to be, Celestia carrying Basil the whole way.
Fools, Porphyrios thought, they know I won't be getting to that airship.
A single tear fell from the tip of his nose.
Better make this count then.
The two girls made their way through the woods slowly due to Basil and Aurelia's injuries, desperately looking for Professor Vert. Three Ursai materialized from between the trees and began to chase them down. Seeing them, Celestia fired her submachine gun behind her, clipping one of them, but missing the others. The Grimm began to close the gap between them as five Beowolves joined the fray, eventually surrounding them.
"Aurelia," Celestia managed, "I'm going to hand you Basil. When I make an opening you get to the airship with him and I'll hold them off."
"Are you crazy?!" Aurelia yelled, her voice breaking, "I've already lost one friend today. I'm not losing another!"
"We have no choice!" Celestia argued, determinedly, "On three... One!"
"Celestia don't!"
"Two!"
"Celestia!"
Fire erupted to the right of them, suddenly engulfing half of the Grimm. The rest of the creatures looked in the direction the fire came from before they too were engulfed in flame.
"Airship's this way," Professor Vert stated with a smile, standing between the trees.
Her face fell.
"Where's Porphyrios?"
"An elephant Grimm showed up," Aurelia stated, slightly choked, "He chose to fight it off to give us more time."
"A Goliath," Professor Vert determined, "Damn. Don't worry Aurelia, we'll swing by and pick him up. He's too stubborn to die so easily."
"Thank you," Aurelia managed to say as they followed the professor.
They arrived at the airship and climbed in. Celestia put down Basil into one of the seats and strapped him in. Aurelia slumped into a seat near the door and watched the landscape, concern evident on her face. They took off and headed back to where the fight had been.
"There," Professor Vert pointing to another airship that had just rose from the trees.
"That's the enemy's ship," She explained to the pilot, "So, Porph should be-"
BOOM!
The explosion had erupted right where Professor Vert had indicated the location of Porphyrios. The clearing they were just fighting in had been turned into an inferno that nearly reached the airship.
"NOOOOO!"
Aurelia's cry woke Basil back into consciousness.
"What?"
He looked around quickly and saw the fire from where he sat. He then saw Celestia staring in shock at the fiery explosion, while Aurelia had fallen to the floor of the airship, sobbing.
"Celestia, what's going on?"
Celestia looked at Basil and just shook her head. Confused, Basil looked around more and then realized.
"No," Basil whispered, "No no no he can't be."
Celestia wrapped her arms around him as tears fell down her face. Still in shock, he put an arm around her as tears gently fell down his face as well.
"He can't be."
After hosing down the fire as best they could, the airship touched down in the clearing. The earth and trees were completely blackened from the explosion and the resulting inferno. They searched up and down, looking for any sign that Porphyrios might still be alive. Until…
"I found something."
The girls walked over to Basil, but they immediately froze when they saw what he had found.
He held in his hand, a blackened and twisted sickle.
They all stood in shock, not wanting to believe it, but now they had no choice.
Porphyrios Chroma was dead.